KEEPING in mind the current political turmoil and after listening to all the political debates going on in Pakistan for the last few weeks, there is one question: what does constitutional supremacy mean to a layperson? Anyone who is unfamiliar with theoretical terminologies, concepts and features of democracy would find it quite difficult to associate with what we call Constitution – a sacrosanct document of the land.
I am pretty sure that a vendor or a daily-wager would know very little about the sanctity of the Constitution. We are a nation of 220 million people and only 60 per cent are said to be literate, and that too in terms of their ability to read and write their name.
The point of concern is what can be deemed as practice of Article 5 of the Constitution, when majority of us do not know about the actual significance of this document in running the affairs of the state. When the religious books can be found in every Muslim home regardless of class or educational background, why the Constitution has no access to the life of the common man?
Considering its importance, it should be made mandatory for every citizen to know about the Constitution as it will generate loyalty towards the sacred document. The government should endorse the imparting of this knowledge not only in educational institutions, but also in places of worship.
For instance, the readers can question their children about basic pillars of Islam and expect some kind of basic knowledge from them, but no child will be able to describe anything about the law of the land. How can we expect loyalty of our generation to the Constitution to be fierce without telling them about its existence and its sanctity?
When we say that violation of the Constitution is unacceptable and its abrogation merits treason, we must make the understanding of this document public.
It should not be used only for sloganeering or rhetorical purposes. Instead, we should embark upon making its relevance clear to the masses.
This will help 220 million people under-stand, enact and endorse the sanctity of their state’s Constitution which, for sure, is not a mere piece of paper.
Saman Aftab
Lahore
Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2022
